The Difference Between Partial and Non-Qualifiers

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Qualifying School, popularly known as Q-School, is how aspiring PGA pros earn their tour cards. Think of high school as your Q-School for playing college sports. You need to get through high school successfully to earn your place in college sports.

To be eligible for intercollegiate athletics, you must first complete the core course requirements as defined by the NCAA Initial Eligibility Center.

If you fail to meet the NCAA’s academic requirements, your chances of playing aren’t totally gone, though. You can still become a partial qualifier if you’ve graduated from high school and have achieved either the specified ACT or SAT score or completed 14 core courses with a minimum 2.0 GPA.

Only Division II and junior colleges may offer scholarships to partial qualifiers. As a partial qualifier, you can receive a scholarship and practice with the team, but you are prohibited from competing in games your first year.

If you fail to meet eligibility and standardized tests score requirements, you will be ruled a nonqualifier. These athletes may enroll at a school but must sit out their entire freshman year— without participating in practice and games or receiving any athletic-based financial aid. To gain eligibility, you must earn 24 credits with a minimum GPA of 2.0 in your freshman year.

Zac Clark - Zac Clark is STACK Media's Custom Content Manager. Prior to joining STACK in September 2008, he served as an editorial assistant for USA Hockey Magazine...